Natural Family Planning -- Billings Method - Family Planning / Adoption Message Board

snoopy77 · 11-07-2002, 08:56 AM

Hi everyone,

My wife and I were advised by an older couple to use natural family planning for birth control. The method they taught us was the Billings Ovulation Method.

Is anyone using it?

Is it possible to have sex throughout the month using it? On infertile days, we supposedly can have sex without condoms.

On fertile days, can we have sex using the condoms instead?

How difficult was it for you to interpret your own mucus?

Blastoff9600 · 11-07-2002, 12:57 PM

First I wouldnt use NFP. The reason being is it isnt as indepth as antoher form of natural family planning. I would suggest FAM...it is known as Fertility Awareness Method. But I have to warn you when it comes to these methods it requires STRICT following of the rules. Even then there is still the chance of pregnancy. So if you neither of you are ready for that chance then sticking to a hormonal form of birth control is better as the chances of unplanned pregnancy are lower than with FAM.
You and your wife need to read the book Taking Charge Of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. And then if you can find the classes that teach what the book talks about take them. This way you can talk with someone who can help you understand your wife's charts.
You still need to use condoms until you and your wife get use to FAM which can take several cycles.

I will say this most people that use NFP actually wind up with more kids than they planned on due to many factors. Also when it come to FAm most people have better luck using it to get pregnant than to avoid pregnancy. I use it for trying to get pregnant. Though there are those who are very successful at using it in TTA(trying to avoid)pregnancy.

snoopy77 · 11-08-2002, 10:49 AM

Thanks for your suggestion about FAM. My wife and I shall research this option.

We have been tracking her cycles for 3 months now to get a sense of her rhythmn. Fortunately, she is quite regular. However, I hear that the success of the Billings method is quite dependent on how accurate the couple is in interpreting the woman's mucus.

We are keen to try natural family planning because

a. her doctor advised against going on the pill. A few of his young female patients had heart problems or strokes because of blood clotting. My wife also knows of a couple of women who had problems either with weight gain or blood clots.

b. she is quite allergic to spermicidal gel. We tried it with using a condom and she got quite a bad case of irritation.

My friend has a colleague who is reading the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". She and her husband are trying to get pregnant.

Thanks for your cautions about NFP.

[This message has been edited by snoopy77 (edited 11-08-2002).]